


Call of the Coyote

by fadingxecho



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, has this been written yet?, i might continue this or i might not, i watched a documentary on coyotes to write this, i'll see if any inspiration strikes when i continue my rewatch, it was an interesting 45 minutes, malia centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29567613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadingxecho/pseuds/fadingxecho
Summary: Malia faces problems with being human after years of being stuck as a coyote
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Call of the Coyote

On the car ride to her childhood home Malia couldn’t find it in her to be as excited as she’d anticipated herself to be, instead, she was fixated on how she was supposed to give a believable explanation for where she’d been for all of these years.

What was she even supposed to say? Lying, which had once been a familiar habit, was now foriegn to her. Coyotes had no use for lying, nor did they have a concept of truth or deceit. 

Hopefully her dad would be so relieved to see her that he wouldn’t insist on an explanation for where she’d been all these years. If he was stubborn on the subject, she could divert the conversation to the trauma of losing her mom and sister. That would probably buy her some time to come up with a plausible explanation for her absence. 

\--

Her first night back to her childhood home was… interesting. Her dad prepared a frozen meal in a rush- he didn’t have time to prepare for his daughter’s unexpected return. It was weird sitting at a dinner table after years of hunting and scavenging. It was too easy; It made her restless. Her dad didn’t make it any less awkward- he didn’t know how he was supposed to behave after years of thinking she was dead. All his parenting experience was with young children so he was ill-prepared to deal with a seventeen year old, let alone one who’d gone through what she had. 

The meal was eaten in near perfect silence. After near every bite of lasagna her dad would look over at her, struggling in vain to figure out what to say. Malia made sure to not meet his eyes. The last thing she needed was to open herself up to a conversation she wasn’t prepared to have.

All the while she couldn’t stop thinking about how it was her fault that the rest of her family was dead. How was she supposed to talk to him- to connect- when she couldn’t be honest with him? When she couldn’t own up to what she had done? His pity only made her guilt fester. 

That night she got into bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come. But it didn’t. She couldn’t manage to relax; the bed was too soft after years of sleeping on stone. Malia sighed. She rolled out of bed, snatched a blanket, and curled up on the floor. Now that she didn’t have a fur coat she got cold a lot easier. 

\--

It turned out that her plan of avoiding the subject of her time in the woods was counterproductive. Instead of staving off her dad’s suspicions he checked her into Eichen House. Apparently being withdrawn and refusing to talk about what happened was enough reason to send her away. 

(Along with a few behaviors considered to be odd by human standards but were normal in the animal kingdom, like startling at the sound of footsteps.)

At least it was mildly helpful. It was nice to be able to talk about the accident in an environment with people who had been through hell just like her so she didn’t have to see the pity in their eyes when she told them what happened.

It would be a lot more useful if she could tell the true story of what happened instead of filtering out all the supernatural aspects. Malia briefly wondered if there was therapy directed towards supernatural creatures.

Stiles checking in was an interesting development. It allowed for her to vent her anger about her circumstances. He was part of the plan that set off the events that led to her being admitted into Eichen House.

Everything was simpler when she was a coyote. She wasn’t burdened by complicated emotions- it was all instincts: hunting, feeding, fighting, protecting her territory. Surviving. Now she had to be conscious of other people’s feelings, try not to be rude, and refrain from fighting. The last one was especially difficult for her.

There was also the issue of school. She’d missed multiple years and she was very far behind. Her dad hired a private tutor to help her catch up but she couldn’t bring herself to care. After having her life simplified down to the bare essentials of survival, school seemed trivial and irrelevant. 

For now she’d try out being human, mainly because she didn’t know how to turn back. Malia was trying to look on the positive side- there were a lot of new and interesting things to try out.

As a human she would have the opportunity for companionship. Being alone was one of the most difficult parts of being a coyote. Coyotes- and werecoyotes, for that matter- lived in packs. It wasn’t good for her to be alone. 

Malia had brief stints where she partnered with a female coyote, but it never lasted as instincts predicated lone coyotes to find a mate and join a pack. A pack of non-werecoyotes wouldn’t suit her- she’d rather be alone. A normal coyote’s chances of survival would be hindered by a loner status, but not being normal gave her an edge.

There would be a whole new set of challenges now that she had regained her human form. She was a stranger in a world she didn’t understand, and going about it alone would leave her vulnerable to attack. Luckily there was a potential pack she could join- the alpha who helped her change back had a pack. After forcing her to turn human, welcoming her into his pack is the least he could do.

When she got out of Eichen House, she’d talk to Scott McCall.

**Author's Note:**

> "The coyote will be the last animal on Earth. After the buffalo are gone, after man has disappeared, all that will be left is darkness and in the darkness will echo the call of the coyote."
> 
> -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tiQ_yYsDRE
> 
> (I researched and couldn't find the quote anywhere else. If you know who said it, it would be appreciated)


End file.
